Zimbabweans cast votes on new constitution

By ANGUS SHAW, Associated Press
| 2:18 a.m.March 16, 2013

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai casts his vote during the country's referendum in Chitungwiza, about 30 Kilometers (20 miles) east of Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March 16, 2013. Zimbabweans began casting ballots in a one-day referendum on a new constitution that all main political parties have backed, urging their supporters to vote ‘Yes’ to accept the 170-page draft document. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
— AP

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai casts his vote during the country's referendum in Chitungwiza, about 30 Kilometers (20 miles) east of Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March 16, 2013. Zimbabweans began casting ballots in a one-day referendum on a new constitution that all main political parties have backed, urging their supporters to vote ‘Yes’ to accept the 170-page draft document. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
/ AP

Two men pray in front of a polling station during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. The country is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)— AP

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Two men pray in front of a polling station during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. The country is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
/ AP

A woman shows her ink stained index finger after casting her vote during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013 .The country is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)— AP

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A woman shows her ink stained index finger after casting her vote during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013 .The country is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
/ AP

Zimbabweans wait in a queue to cast their vote during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. The country is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)— AP

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Zimbabweans wait in a queue to cast their vote during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. The country is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
/ AP

An elderly woman shows her identity card while waiting to cast her vote during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. The country is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)— AP

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An elderly woman shows her identity card while waiting to cast her vote during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. The country is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
/ AP

A woman, carrying her baby piggyback, waits to have formality done before she casts her vote at a polling station during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. The country is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)— AP

+Read Caption

A woman, carrying her baby piggyback, waits to have formality done before she casts her vote at a polling station during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. The country is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
/ AP

Police officers stand at a Polling station during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. The referendum this weekend mirrors the hopes and fears of four previous elections which were marred by violence and vote-rigging since Tsvangirai, a former labor leader, founded his Movement for Democratic Change party, the first real challenge to Mugabe, in 1999. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)— AP

+Read Caption

Police officers stand at a Polling station during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. The referendum this weekend mirrors the hopes and fears of four previous elections which were marred by violence and vote-rigging since Tsvangirai, a former labor leader, founded his Movement for Democratic Change party, the first real challenge to Mugabe, in 1999. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
/ AP

A woman arrives at a polling station to cast her vote during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. The country is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)— AP

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A woman arrives at a polling station to cast her vote during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. The country is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
/ AP

A woman casts her vote at a polling station during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. The country is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)— AP

+Read Caption

A woman casts her vote at a polling station during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. The country is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
/ AP

An election official holds one of the ballot papers for use during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. All political groups have called for a "Yes" vote on a constitution whose reforms would reduce presidential powers and grant more democratic rights. However, even if the constitution is approved, arrests and harassment of rights and democracy activists this year by police loyal to Mugabe raise doubts about whether such changes would be seriously enforced. (AP Photo/Tsva— AP

+Read Caption

An election official holds one of the ballot papers for use during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. All political groups have called for a "Yes" vote on a constitution whose reforms would reduce presidential powers and grant more democratic rights. However, even if the constitution is approved, arrests and harassment of rights and democracy activists this year by police loyal to Mugabe raise doubts about whether such changes would be seriously enforced. (AP Photo/Tsva
/ AP

A police officer chats on a mobile phone at a polling station during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. All political groups have called for a 'Yes' vote on a constitution whose reforms would reduce presidential powers and grant more democratic rights. However, even if the constitution is approved, arrests and harassment of rights and democracy activists this year by police loyal to Mugabe raise doubts about whether such changes would be seriously enforced. (AP Photo/Ts— AP

+Read Caption

A police officer chats on a mobile phone at a polling station during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. All political groups have called for a 'Yes' vote on a constitution whose reforms would reduce presidential powers and grant more democratic rights. However, even if the constitution is approved, arrests and harassment of rights and democracy activists this year by police loyal to Mugabe raise doubts about whether such changes would be seriously enforced. (AP Photo/Ts
/ AP

Women carrying water walks past a polling station during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. Zimbabwe is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)— AP

+Read Caption

Women carrying water walks past a polling station during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. Zimbabwe is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
/ AP

A woman arrives in a wheelchair to cast her vote during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. Zimbabwe is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)— AP

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A woman arrives in a wheelchair to cast her vote during a referendum in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. Zimbabwe is holding the referendum on a new constitution which will pave way for the adoption of the draft constitution as the country prepares to hold elections later in the year. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
/ AP

HARARE, Zimbabwe 
Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai cast his vote in a one-day referendum Saturday on a new constitution that all main political parties have backed, urging supporters to accept the draft document that will curb presidential powers.

Tsvangirai, thronged by supporters at a junior high school south of Harare, said a `Yes' vote marked a new turning point and "and one of the most important historical steps" for the southern African nation. He said it paved the way for a new chapter of the rule of law.

His supporters who have been killed in political violence over the past decade "will rest in peace because this is the most important stage we have been fighting for," Tsvangirai said. "I hope everyone will exercise their vote as a preliminary step to free and fair elections."

Full scale presidential and parliamentary elections are slated for around July to end a shaky coalition government formed by regional leaders after the last violent and disputed national polls in 2008.

Officials said polling was busy in populous districts after voting stations opened at 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) across the country. Small knots of voters turned out early in remote areas and less populated or wealthier suburbs.

The proposed constitution reduces the entrenched powers of Zimbabwe's president and includes a range of democratic reforms demanded by regional mediators in Zimbabwe's decade-long political and economic crisis.

The voting day was announced exactly a month ago, and critics say voters were not given enough time to study the constitutional proposals in detail. About 9,400 voting stations have been set up and 12 million ballot papers have been printed. Results are expected within five days.

But Abigail Punungwe, a young mother with a baby on her back in a line at one voting station in Harare, said she hadn't read the 170-page draft constitution "but everyone is saying we must vote for it."

Elections monitors say printed copies were woefully inadequate in the two main local languages. Many rural Zimbabweans don't speak or read English. Monitors also pointed to only 200 braille copies being produced for the country's 40,000 blind people.

But cash shortages and administrative setbacks aside, voters in lines over 200 meters (300 yards) long in Harare waited quietly to cast their ballots. Cumbersome voters' lists were not used. The nation has 6.6 million registered voters, but on Saturday all Zimbabweans over the age of 18 carrying a valid citizens' identification document can vote during more than 12 hours of polling. Polling stations using indelible finger ink on the hands of those who have already voted will stay open later into the evening if voters are still in line at the closing time.

Munganyi Nyarai, a polling officer in the western Harare township of Mbare, said more young people voted early at her post than in usual elections. Voting was running quickly and smoothly but some people in the line were turned away because they had not regularized their citizenship status and were still classified as "alien" Zimbabwe residents. Voters were made to turn off mobile phones as a security precaution to stop them from taking photographs inside polling booths.

Since Tsvangirai, 61, the former opposition leader, founded his Movement for Democratic Change party four previous elections have been marred by violence and alleged vote-rigging blamed mostly on the ZANU-PF party of longtime ruler President Robert Mugabe, 89.

The draft constitution reduces presidential powers to pass authoritarian decrees and paves the way for a National Peace and Reconciliation Commission on past violence and human rights violations.

It also strengthens the bill of rights to protect all Zimbabweans from "torture, cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment" that would be enforced by a new Constitutional Court with powers above the main existing highest court of appeal, the Supreme Court.

In urging supporters to vote `Yes,' Mugabe's party says the draft recognizes as irreversible the seizure of thousands of white-owned commercial farms which have since 2000 been handed over to blacks. Black empowerment programs and the taking of control of foreign-owned mines and businesses by locals would also be irreversible.

Mugabe's party says the draft honors black guerrilla fighters who ended colonial rule after a seven-year bush war with white-led troops of the former colony of Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe was known before independence in 1980.